1. Field of the Invention
The present inventions generally pertain to the field of document management. More particularly, the present inventions pertain to computer-implemented methods and systems for document management in which multiple authors contribute to document authoring of sets of related documents. Such computer-implemented document management methods and systems facilitate rapid delivery and effective management of sets of structured documents.
2. Description of the Prior Art and Related Information
The need for effective document management arises in many fields. For example, corporate Human Resources (HR) is one such field. A corporation may offer a number of benefits and it is one of Human Resources' jobs to communicate accurate and current details of those benefits to the employees of the corporation. Preferably, the benefit information presented to the employees should have a common structure that allows them to efficiently find, compare and select their benefit information. Moreover, such benefit information should be delivered in a cost effective manner, and in a manner that insures legal accuracy and compliance with government regulations.
The content of such documents may originate from multiple contributors, both from within the corporation and from sources outside the corporation. Continuing with the corporate benefits example developed herein, a first contributor to a corporate benefits package document may include an insurance agency that provides the benefit policy, a second contributor may include a brokerage agency that sold the policy, and a third contributor may be the corporation's human resource administrators. Other sources of content in such a document may stem from the need to comply with particular state laws and regulations or to accommodate collective bargaining agreements, for example.
A medical coverage benefit is a specific example of a Benefits Plan. Such a Benefits Plan may include multiple documents that are organized across multiple tiers. For example, a document or documents in the top tier may set out the essential benefits of the Plan, whereas documents in the second lower tier may include details of the Benefits Plan. For example, documents in the second tier may provide particular types of benefit plans, such as the HMO or PPO available to the employees. A third lower tier may, for example, include documents setting out details of a benefit plan provided by an insurance agency. Continuing, a fourth lower tier may include one or more documents that detail the requirements specific to a company or organization, and documents associated with a fifth lower tier may include details particular to a group within the company
It would be beneficial for the corporation to have the ability and tools to allow it to manage such sets of related documents using a common framework in which changes made to the information in documents associated with a higher tier are reflected in corresponding information in documents associated with a comparatively lower tier. For example, it would be advantageous if a change in a topic name made within a document in the first tier would be reflected in documents in the fifth tier.